Bees and other pollinators are in trouble — so much so that many of them are facing extinction, according to a new report.The report,
released Friday by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), is a two-year assessment of
the threats facing pollinators — both vertebrates, such as birds and
bats, and invertebrates, such as bees, butterflies, and other insects.
It noted that, in some regions, 40 percent of invertebrate pollinator
species are so threatened by myriad environmental impacts that they’re
facing extinction, with butterflies and bees seeing the highest risk.
Among vertebrates, 16.5 percent of species are threatened by extinction
worldwide. Pollinators are a major group: there are 20,000 species of
wild bees across the globe, the report notes, and many of them haven’t been identified yet.Pollinators are also a hugely important group of animals. Almost 90
percent of wild flowering plants depend on pollination by animals, and
75 percent of food crops around the world depend on pollination.
Globally, $235 – $577 billion worth of global crops are affected by
pollinators each year, the report found.“Without pollinators, many of us would no longer be able to enjoy
coffee, chocolate and apples, among many other foods that are part of
our daily lives,” said Simon Potts, co-chair of the assessment, said in a
statement.

A hummingbird hawk-moth.CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

IPBES, which looked at existing research to compile the report, cited
pesticides and disease as two threats posed to pollinators, especially
managed honeybees. Varroa mites, for instance, have become a plague on
honeybee colonies. They attach themselves to bees and suck out their
circulatory fluid, weakening the bees and spreading dangerous diseases.
Pesticides, especially the widely-used neonicotinoids, have been found
to damage bees’ brains and contribute to bee losses. The Environmental
Protection Agency in January released findings on
one neonic pesticide, imidacloprid, the most commonly-used neonic in
the United States. The agency found that, when applied to certain crops,
the pesticide was harmful to bees. The EPA is still looking into three
other neonicotinoids.The organization also listed land use changes, climate change, and
invasive species as threats to pollinators. Land use changes can turn
wildflower-covered fields into fields of just one or two crops, a switch
from a high-nutrition landscape to a lower-nutrition one. And climate
change can lead to
a shift in peak nectar flow for flowering plants. If managed honeybees
miss this nectar flow — if they’re delivered to beekeepers too late, for
instance — the hive can be weakened. The report also found that climate
change has already shifted distribution of bumblebees and butterflies
and pollinator-dependent plants.The report lists several approaches to help protect pollinator
populations, including creating more pollinator-friendly landscapes,
with diverse flowering plants, and reducing use of pesticides by finding
more pollinator-friendly forms of pest control. There are efforts to do
some of these things already: last October, for instance, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture set aside $4 million to
help farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners plant wildflowers, native
grasses, clover, buckwheat, and other pollinator-friendly plants on
their lands. Scientists and beekeepers are also researching new ways to
protect bees against varroa mites and other threats: beer hops have been found to repel the mites, and mushroom juice, too, could help protect bees against diseases.